Cultural Appropriation in Kpop

In light of the whole Kiss of Life situation, it is as good of a time as any to bring up one of the major probl

(The Classic, 2017)

Kpop: idols disrespecting other cultures, and being able to get away with it using a shallow apology. Now idols should always be held accountable, but whether idols should or should not be given a chance to change is something that can be debated, and I would like to explore both point of views. 

Argument 1: Idols should be given a second chance

The vast majority of kpop idols are Korean, and more importantly, grew up in Korea. Let's be real, there is minimal diversity in Korea, whereas for someone from a Western country, they are constantly surrounded by different cultures. Without that exposure, Korean idols may be less aware of the importance of respecting other cultures, and more importantly, how. I feel that in many cases, idols may not know just how serious of an impact their actions have on a specific community. I think a good example of this is the 2017 blackface incident with Mamamoo. I genuinely believe that there was no malicious intent behind their actions, but it ended up coming off as the girls mocking Bruno Mars and black culture. The girls later apologized and declared to do better in the future. 

This brings me to my second argument. These actions do not stem from malicious intent, but ignorance. Idols can learn from their mistakes, which is why they deserve to learn from their mistakes, and many do. Many idols have made mistakes and changed their actions in the future. However, this is only on an individual scale. Have you ever wondered why the industry seems to keep repeating itself? It's 2025, and we still see idols making the same mistakes as idols 20 years ago. This is because if we want to truly change the mindset in kpop, instead of focusing our energy on individual idols, we need to put a focus on changing the industry as a whole, as this constant repetition of mistakes stems from the industry's inability to change and grow. The industry is stuck using a cookie-cutter formula that they know works, in order to pump out perfect idols, music, and content that they know can make money. Everything is so formulaic that the industry never evolves, contributing to this mindset of idols having the same ignorance towards other cultures that seemed to be okay 20 years ago, and thinking it is still okay today.

Argument 2: Idols should not be given a second chance

Yes, many idols have not grown up with the same emphasis on cultural respect simply because they don’t have the same history as other countries. They can never fully understand just how much the importance of respecting other cultures is ingrained into societies in the US and other countries, because they do not have the same connection to the history of marginalized communities and the same understanding of the atrocities that certain communities have faced. However, have these idols never taken a global history class before? I know from personal experience that I had to take a required two years of global history in high school. Even if idols don’t have the same connection to the history of marginalized communities, they should at least have some understanding of why it is so important to respect other cultures and communities, especially those who have faced many hardships throughout history, and continue to do so today. 

Even if some idols don’t care enough to understand how their actions affect others from the perspective of being a decent human being, they should at least not commit questionable actions due to the potential harm to their brand. The Kpop industry works by selling fans a seemingly perfect version of an idol. One who is better than your average person, someone who is perfect at everything, almost like a god. However, wouldn’t idols being disrespectful to other cultures break this perfect fantasy that the industry is trying to create? It could also drive off potential fans and lead to unstanning by fans in the targeted community. So, even from a business standpoint, cultural appropriation is just a bad idea, and idols should be smarter about this.

Some notes:

I am not trying to justify questionable actions done by idols. Idols should always be held accountable for their actions, but it is the question of whether they should be given the chance to learn from their actions or just be cancelled without trying to see why something could have potentially happened.

Whether or not an idol should or shouldn’t be forgiven by fans is something that is highly dependent on the situation. For example, there are some situations where disrespect towards another culture should never be potentially justified. An example of this is idols who are from countries such as the US, Canada, etc, should not be forgiven (in my opinion) for disrespecting another community or culture. On the contrary, there are times when idols should always be forgiven (in my opinion). For example, times when the appropriation may have come from a stage costume or outfit that the idol has no control over. Instead of slandering the idols over something they cannot control, fans should be directing their criticism towards the company, broadcasting station, or whoever is making them wear the outfit.